Page 4 of Violet

And his use of the word ‘ma’am’ is a stark reminder that no matter how close we’ve grown over the past year, I’m just another little old lady as far as he’s concerned.

“The suit didn’t shrink,” Nole adds, and it finally hits me why Betty mentioned dry cleaning.

Then the bear shifter glances down at himself, and my brain short-circuits. With the morning light streaming through the windows, I can almost make out his hard abs beneath the fabric of his dress shirt. A shirt that stretches around him with each word.

“I borrowed this from my older brother.”

It takes a second for his words to sink in, and my eyes widen in surprise. “Wes is home? I thought he moved in with Amber? Are they fighting?”

I know I’m not supposed to care, since Amber and I are strangers in everyone’s eyes, but I can’t help it. I need to know!

And Nole can’t possibly be referring to his other brothers, since they’re technically the same age as him. Yes, Neal came first—and he never lets his brothers forget it—but I haven’t heard Nole refer to him as older before. Plus, the triplets are identical in height, while Wes is almost a head shorter, which would explain the suit.

“Wes hasn’t been by in a while,” Nole grumbles. “This was the only thing he had left in his closet.”

“But why did you need to wear a suit today? Are you going somewhere?” I frown. Wherever it is, he would have been better off in his usual jeans and t-shirt.

“No, I... um...” Nole runs a hand through his thick, sun bleached shoulder-length hair. Hair that’s still soaking wet and dripping onto his dress shirt. Then he gives me a sheepish smile. “It was all Neal and Nyle’s fault.”

“What did they do this time?” I ask, feeling outraged on his behalf—that and dying from curiosity.

“They threw all my clothes in the lake.”

“They did what?” My eyes widen.

Betty coughs. “I’ll just leave you two to talk,” she says, heading toward the romance section, where Stacks disappeared earlier.

Nole rounds the desk to join me, and my pulse starts to race.

“Do you have anything you can change into? Something...” less attractive, I think. “Work appropriate,” I say instead. Because I’m not sure I’d be able to work beside him for the rest of the day with him looking like this. Not without having a heart attack—or accidentally shifting—first.

Nole’s cheeks flush. “Oh, um... I think I have some gym clothes in my locker. Let me go look.”

Chapter 2

Violet

Nole changes into basketball shorts and a sleeveless shirt, which honestly isn’t any better than the too-small suit. His tanned, muscular arms are on full display, and I swear the bear shifter somehow looks even taller than he did earlier.

I feel my heart skip a beat every time he looks at me—or I look at him—which really can’t be too healthy at my age. Cause of death: drooling over hot, young man.

When Nole moves to the adjacent computer terminal and gets to work, I forget to breathe. I try not to stare, but I can’t help it. His muscles bulge every time he grabs a book from the stack of returns, rippling as he flips it over, scans it in, and then sets it down on a book truck.

For a few minutes, we work in companionable silence. We’ve done this so many times that I don’t have to ask Nole to move my returns to the book truck, or to wheel it off once it’s full and bring me a new one.

Working side by side like this—running the library together—feels natural. Soon, I’ll be gone, and it’ll be just a distant memory. Until then, I vow to enjoy it.

“So tell me, what happened with your brothers?” I ask.

“They snuck into my room while I was sleeping, took all my clothes, and dumped them into our fishing boat.” Nole shakes his head. “It was floating in the middle of the lake when I woke up. I swam out to get it, but it rained overnight, so everything was soaked.”

“That’s not so bad. I mean, compared to last time...” When his brothers threw a bunch of red sweaters into the wash with Nole’s whites. “Did the rain help get the rest of the pink out?”

“Not really. And I was going to just toss everything in the dryer, but I was already running late, so I had to grab what I could find.”

“Wes’s suit,” I say, trying to hide my smile.

“Wes’s suit.” Nole chuckles, then quickly sobers up. “I’m really sorry I was late again, Violet. I promised you I’d be on time from now on, and I meant it. I even set my alarm clock half an hour early, just in case. If it hadn’t been for Neal and Nyle, I would have been here to help you open.”